Running with the Giants (Week 15) 2016 #GiantsSeries

Running With The Giants

#GiantsSeries

Sometimes, a message is so significant to where you are in life,  it must be immortalized on the BLOG!

When I am internalizing a WORD,  it helps me to rewrite my notes as I digest.  I pray this nourishes you as well; it would have been selfish of me not to share!

Discipline in a Long-Distance Race

“Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!”

Hebrews 12:1-3The Message (MSG)

Talk about a God Wink!

The half marathon ran right past my church this past Sunday and we are in a “Running with the Giants” Series.  This series is inspired by  “Running with the Giants” by John C. Maxwell.

Let me define a God Wink, in case you didn’t know:

Noun
(plural God winks)

An event or personal experience, often identified as coincidence, so astonishing that it is seen as a sign of divine intervention, especially when perceived as the answer to a prayer.
Origin
God +‎ wink; coined by SQuire Rushnell, author of a series of books that include the phrase “When God winks” in the title.

Read more at  www.yourdictionary.com/god-wink

Check out this book  for some awesome inspirational reads!

Amazon: When God Winks

In the #GiantsSeries we are looking at the life of several heroes of faith from the Bible and pulling out one nugget of wisdom they would share if they came down and got to run one lap on our life race with us.

This week we heard from Jacob and his life message is for when our life isn’t turning out the way we hoped.

I think we can all relate, either we have experienced this in a past season or we are living it now.

The bottom line of the message is:

“Let God have control of our lives.”

Mother Teresa lived a life dependent on God, poured out in service to the least of these.

“We will never know God’s all we need until HE is all we have.”

When God is in Control…

**We’ll get a new STRENGTH.

Our own strength doesn’t really cut it!  Do you agree?

“This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket.” (Gen. 32:24-25 NLT)

“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29 NLT)

The word for yoke in this verse does not refer to a generic yoke, one-size fits all.  It refers to a well-managed, custom-fit yoke, a yoke that fits us perfectly and connects us to Jesus.  Yoked to Christ, we co-labor with HIM, still working but from a place of rest.  Jesus adds the “extra-umph” to our ordinary.

Eagles fly without flapping.  They give a good flap, do their part, but then they fly on thermal currents, a strength that is not their own.  When we give God complete control of out lives we live under the power of the Holy Spirit who lifts us.  We do not wear ourselves out working for God.  We work empowered by HIM.

**We’ll get a new IDENTITY. (We start becoming who we were originally designed to be.)

“What is your name?” the man asked.  He replied, “Jacob.” “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel,[a] because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” (Gen. 32:27-28 NLT)

**When people encounter God HE brings out their TRUE identity.

**God doesn’t see in actualities but HE sees our possibilities.

Jacob means “deceiver” but God names him “Israel”, which means “prince of God.”  God also has a name for us that is our TRUE IDENTITY IN HIM.

**We’ll get a new JOY.

“Please tell me your name,” Jacob said.  “Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.” (Gen. 32:29 NLT)

**”Blessed” is not circumstantial, but internal.  When we hunger and thirst for righteousness we are blessed.  JOY is internal, not circumstantial.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6 NIV)

**There is a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory!

“and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,” (1 Peter 1:8 NASB)

Jacob’s Words of Encouragement:

1) “Brokenness precedes breakthrough.”

**We cannot be who God INTENDS us to be and at the same time hold onto what we think we SHOULD be!

“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17 NIV)

**God is looking for us to say, “I HAVE TO HAVE YOU!”

…“God opposes the proud  but shows favor to the humble.”
 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:5-6 NIV)

2) “We must lose ourselves to find ourselves.”

**Don’t allow what we think we want to get in the way of who God made us to be!

“Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am.” (Mark 8:34 MSG)

**Go ALL IN and RUN THE PLAY!

“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.” (Mark 8:35 NLT)

3) “When we find ourselves on God’s terms we find fulfillment.”

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (Romans 12:1-2 MSG)

**We will never know what our life could have been until we hand it over to the ONE who created it in the first place!

**Are we going to hold onto SELF or let GOD make us into who HE designed us to be?

“…my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

(Acts 20:24 NIV)

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

(1 Cor. 9:24-25 NIV)

**Below is the link to the service.  I hope you will watch as well.  It is a #gamechanger !

Running with the Giants: Jacob (Church of the Highlands #GiantsSeries)